Jobs NYC

Title:

Principal Planner, Resilience Planning

Department:

NJTPA

Reports To:

Director, Environmental and Sustainability Planning NJTPA

Position Type:

Staff

Position Summary:

Under the direction of the Director of Environmental and Sustainability Planning, the Principal Planner, Resilience Planning will be responsible for performing a wide range of planning, policy, research, and data analysis activities in support of the agency’s climate resilience and adaptation goals as identified in the NJTPA Long Range Transportation Plan.

Resiliency planning at the NJTPA is concerned with identifying and addressing the climate hazards that impact the transportation system. The NJTPA recognizes that climate resilience is linked to climate change mitigation, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This work includes assessing risks to the transportation system, identifying adaptation strategies and developing projects that protect the region from climate-related vulnerabilities and build strong, resilient communities.

The incumbent will serve as the agency’s subject matter expert on climate resilience and advance the agency and the region’s understanding of climate change and its impacts on the transportation system and communities in the NJTPA region. The ideal candidate will have project management experience, relevant technical knowledge in resiliency planning, be highly organized, and be able to excel in a collaborative environment. The incumbent will contribute to and coordinate resilience activities within NJTPA as well as with outside agencies (particularly with the New Jersey Department of Transportation, NJ TRANSIT, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey), and subregional and municipal stakeholders. Such coordination will be essential to this work. The incumbent will understand risk and vulnerability assessment, as well as climate adaptation and mitigation processes, and will support projects related to adaptive planning.

This is a hybrid position based in Newark, New Jersey with the option to work remotely part of the time.

Essential Functions:

• Lead the agency’s climate resilience activities and advance strategies consistent with the Long-Range Transportation Plan.

• Contribute to the agency’s long range planning goals of addressing the impacts of climate change on the NJTPA region, such as identifying transportation assets vulnerable to extreme weather events and strategies to increase the resilience of the transportation system.

• Monitor and analyze how federal and state laws, regulations, policies, and best practices related to climate resiliency affect transportation planning processes and investments in the region and identify strategies to advance them within the metropolitan planning framework.

• Manage and/or participate in a range of studies on various transportation-related planning, serving on technical advisory committees, participating in meetings with municipal officials, stakeholders, and the public, and provide ongoing technical assistance to guide the progress and implementation of studies and the content of their recommendations.

• Support NJTPA subregions and municipalities in identifying climate change-related vulnerabilities and implementing strategies to develop sustainable transportation systems, including stormwater management and Complete and Green Streets policy implementation.

Additional Functions:

• Coordinate with other divisions within the agency and externally with partner agencies, Transportation Management Associations, state and local governments, and universities in the region.

• Research, collect and analyze data, and prepare policy papers and other briefing documents on resilience and environmental-related topics and other planning projects in the NJTPA region and contribute to relevant NJTPA-supported studies and projects.

• Be organized and self-motivated. The candidate should have good communications abilities, outstanding analytical skills, and the desire and temperament for a collaborative, dynamic work environment.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Prerequisite Qualifications:

• Graduation from an accredited college with a bachelor’s degree in planning, public policy, environmental science/studies, environmental engineering or related field.

• Three (3) years of professional planning experience in the areas of environmental, sustainability, local, regional and/or transportation planning required.

• At the university’s discretion, the education and experience prerequisites may be excepted where the candidate can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the university, an equivalent combination of education and experience specifically preparing the candidate for success in the position.

  Preferred Qualifications:

• Graduation from an accredited college with a master’s degree in planning, public policy, environmental studies, environmental engineering, or related field.

• Demonstrated program management and organizational skills.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Certification.

Bargaining Unit:

PSA

Range/Band:

25

FLSA:

Exempt

Full-Time